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Siblings' murder case: Magistrates examined

Considered a rarest event in the history of the sessions and sub-ordinate judiciary, two Magistrates who dealt with a case in the pre-trial stage got into the witness box of the Mahalir Court on Thursday and gave evidence in the sensational sibling's murder case that rocked the city in October 2010.

On October 29, 2010, a 10-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother who left home for school were abducted by a driver in a car. The abduction was originally planned and carried out with a view to seeking ransom from their parents Sangeetha and Ranjith, a textile merchant. The offenders, later, sexually abused the girl, killed her along with her brother and dumped the bodies in the PAP canal near Udumalpet. The police arrested Mohanakrishnan (27), the car driver, and his accomplice Manoharan (23).

On November 8 night, the police took custody of the accused and on November 9, Mohanakrishnan was shot dead by the police. The police said that they had to gun down Mohanakrishnan to protect the lives of the police personnel and to prevent his attempt to escape, by hijacking the vehicle they were travelling in, to Kerala. The police special teams subsequently filed a 550-page charge-sheet and listed 115 witnesses. Grandmother, parents, and neighbours of the children had deposed before the court.On Thursday, both the magistrates who dealt with the pre-trial stage of the case - Magistrate Deivam, who conducted the identification parade at the Coimbatore Central Prison where the accused were lodged and Judicial Magistrate L.S. Sathiyamoorthy who recorded the confessional statements of both the accused - appeared before First Additional District Sessions Judge (holding charge of the Mahalir Court) A. Seshasayee to have their evidence recorded.

Former Joint Director of Prosecution J. Sankara Narayanan is the Special Public Prosecutor. The defence counsel is Irudayaraj. Inspector of Police, Variety Hall Road Police Station, Kanagasabapathy is the investigating officer.